


Taking Stock

by scy



Category: The Vampire Diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-07
Updated: 2010-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/116662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bonnie is low on patience and calls a friend for help</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Stock

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**seperis**](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/) for encouraging, prodding, and embracing cliches whenever appropriate. Follows [Harder to Hide](http://archiveofourown.org/works/66318).

The weather had begun the unmistakable shift from fall to winter when Nico picked up the phone and smiled as he said hello. "Bonnie, good to talk to you again."

"You knew it was me," Bonnie said, and Nico nodded.

"You knew I was home, it goes both ways."

"A lot of things do," Bonnie said, and her voice was strained enough that Nico sat down at the curb. "Tell me."

"Damon keeps talking to me in public," Bonnie said, desperation audible in her voice, and she didn't even seem to care.

Nico laughed. "People do that."

"Not him, we have this policy of avoiding each other, and it's worked for this long, why change now?"

"You know why." A long weekend, spells, and food shared, all of them not in any way forgettable. Not only that, but Nico had read the news for Mystic Falls ever since Bonnie and Damon went back there, and he'd seen the reports about the incident during the Founder's Day celebration. He had been waiting for a call, and knew it wouldn't be from Damon.

"I know, it's hard to explain how I went from passionate hatred to only wanting to throw my drink on him once or twice this week."

"Did you really want to?" Nico asked.

Bonnie sighed. "He wouldn't go away, and the Grill has enough problems without mysterious fires every other day."

"It's that bad?"

"He can't hang around his brother all the time, and Elena said she's going to put a lock on the door so they don't wake up and find him on their bed anymore."

"At least he's not in on it," Nico said, and Bonnie groaned.

"Elena said it's been close, it's like he has no sense of personal space." Bonnie paused. "I don't think Elena minds as much anymore, and I think they're reworking the rules, not that Damon listens to them anyway."

"Not with some people," Nico cleaned his throat. "Damon's annoying you."

"More than a little," Bonnie said. "Things have been incredibly crazy here, and they're not going to get much better for awhile, I can sense it. But, the reason I called is, I wanted to know if you were busy this weekend?"

Nico cleared his throat. He could put some appointments off, that wasn't an issue when he heard the tension in Bonnie's voice. More that that, he knew that it had to be more than her that was upset, what with what she was describing. "Not with anything important."

"Can you drive up to Mystic Falls?"

"To distract Damon?"

"I want to see you too, but some of it's that, and I need a break." Bonnie let out a giggle that was mostly normal, but with a note of hysteria. "I got a vampire and a warlock as a matched set, and one of them doesn't come with a rulebook."

"He burned it," Nico said and paused. "It's a hobby, but don't encourage it."

"I won't, don't worry." She waited for a second. "Can you come up?"

"If you really need me to."

"I do," Bonnie said. "We may have a truce, but that doesn't mean I don't have rules."

"All right,"Nico said. "I'll call you when I get into town."

Bonnie's gratitude came through the phone even when she wasn't speaking, and Nico let her radiate it for several moments and then hung up.  
Bonnie was still keeping to herself a lot, but she did tell Elena that she'd asked Nico to visit and help with their Damon issues, and Elena was so relieved, that when Nico knocked on the door to the boarding house, Elena wrenched the door open and almost yanked him inside.

"Hi," Nico said, and Elena nodded.

"It's so good to see you, are you going to handle him? Or both of them?"

"Bonnie said that Damon was being very-him, what's wrong with Bonnie?"

"She's fed up with him and doesn't know what to do." Elena looked a bit frantic herself, and Nico put a hand on her arm.

"It's a lot to adjust to."

"I know, and I'm doing what I can, but it's impossible when they're both acting a little crazy."  
She guided him into the living room. "I know Damon and I have this arrangement where he flirts and gets in the way, and then there's the push and pull with Bonnie, but lately it's like he's been trying to, I don't know, set new standards. On top of that, Bonnie has made some things clear," Elena said as she brushed her hair out of her face, "If Damon so much as nips somebody that doesn't give him a signed consent, and Bonnie finds out about it, there's going to be trouble."

"Oh." Nico winced, he could see how that would be problematic. He took in the room with a glance, and that nothing had changed since he'd been here last. That wasn't a surprise, but even so, it had been years, and he would have thought some little thing might be different, he would just have to look for it.

"Where are the Salvatores and Bonnie?"

"Stefan is asleep upstairs." Elena blushed.

"Did you wear him out?" Nico asked.

"No, he was out late dealing with vampire stuff, getting a bite to eat and all." Elena waved a hand and blinked. "I don't remember when that became a normal thing to say."

"It happens," Nico said. "And the other two?"

"Caroline took Bonnie shopping, she said they needed retail therapy, and she was about ready to go after Damon too, and that's nothing that should happen in public."

"She's the girl Damon was feeding on?"

"Yeah," Elena said. "They'll be back pretty soon, Bonnie wants to see you, and Damon is who knows where."

"If he comes back tonight, will that be a problem?"

"He won't bother us," Elena said. "We're going out later, and besides," she added gleefully, "we put a deadbolt on Stefan's door.

Nico put his bag in Damon's room and then waited on the couch. He was expecting Bonnie wanted to talk to him, but he had to be sure everyone was on board, and with Damon, the best way to do that was ambush him in a non-confrontational way. It wouldn't have made sense if he explained it, but up until now, he'd never had to consider another person while he and Damon were doing their casual long distance thing. At least, not until just recently, and Bonnie's potential relationship with both of them was still largely a theory, but one that Damon had apparently embraced, and that Nico wasn't opposed to, he just didn't know how it would work yet. He had a few things to get out of the way before he could figure out what was going on with Damon, and he tried to find his equilibrium before he heard the door open.

"You're here," Damon said from the doorway, and Nico stood up and leaned into the hug that Damon offered him, He held on tightly for a couple seconds, and then stepped back when Damon let go.

"What a surprise," Damon said flatly, and Nico smiled.

"I wasn't busy when Bonnie called." He paused. "But I might have come up soon anyway."

Damon frowned. "What for?"

Nico smiled and punched Damon. "I stopped in to see Bree."

"How did that go?" Damon asked, turning his head as if Nico's fist hadn't landed a solid blow, and Nico let out an inarticulate noise of rage.

"Use your imagination," Nico said, and Damon caught on fast.

"Who told you?"

"Nobody told me, Damon, the psychic network of witches fell down on this one, and I didn't find out until I stopped in the bar and they told me it was closed because the owner had been found dead with her heart ripped out of her chest."

"Yeah." Damon's expression was bored and closed off, and Nico could tell it was partly just so he could get a reaction.

"What did she do that made you that angry, Damon?"

"She betrayed me."

"How?"

"I killed one of her friends and she passed the information along to somebody who wanted to get back at me for it."

"Who?"

"Lexi. She was Stefan's BFF, and you didn't know her."

Nico sat down on the arm of the couch, feeling a headache coming on. "Is this just your latest hobby? Killing your friends and everybody else's too?"

"It was part of the plan," Damon said. "I had to get the Sheriff off our backs, and the only way to do that was to give her a dead vampire." He shrugged. Lexi was in town, and it worked out."

"Is that why Stefan was more upset with you than usual the last time I saw you?"

"He got over it," Damon said.

"Good for him."

"You actually said something nice about him, are you okay?" Damon didn't reach out to feel Nico's forehead, but he was smirking at him, and Nico had to be clear.

"Bree's dead because she got upset and you got even more upset."

"Pretty much."

"She knew you would do that," Nico said. It was part of being around Damon, he might have a good time with you, but he didn't react well to anything that could be interpreted as betrayal, and actual betrayal hit him hard enough that he had to strike back.

"Yeah, so do you."

"I've never betrayed you," Nico said.

"Do you want to?" Damon stepped closer. "Get back at me for what I did to Bree, to Stefan, people you barely know, just so you can prove you're really a good guy who came all the way up here to help Bonnie out."

"Stop that," Nico said.

"Isn't that what you're after?"

"Enough." Nico pushed a wave of power in Damon's direction, moving him back to a safe distance before Nico gave in to the impulse to really start fighting back. This was one reason he didn't like fighting with Damon very much, it could be dangerous for both of them, and Damon was the one who would end up with the advantage.

"You know what I'm like, what are you worried about?" Damon asked.

"It's not me, what about Bonnie? If she does something that you don't like, are you going to try and kill her?"

"Again?"

"What?"

"Emily possessed her and she destroyed Katherine's pendant."

"Oh?"

"I was a little ticked off." Damon said it in the same tone that somebody else would say they had picked up the mail.

"Would you do it again?"

"It depends on what she did to me first. I kept my end of the deal, she's the one that backed out."

"Emily was the one who broke your deal, not Bonnie."

"No, but I wouldn't put it past her to try something again."

"I thought you two were getting along better."

"We are." Damon sighed. "And, technically I owe her for saving my life, so I probably wouldn't get into it with her over something like that."

Nico's headache had settled around his eyes and he rubbed his face in frustration. "Then what are you talking about?"

"It could happen, you should be prepared." Damon prodded his jaw with exaggerated care. "Since you react so well to me being myself."

"I don't care that you're acting out, it's when you can't stop yourself," Nico said. "You couldn't just let somebody live, just once?"

"It saves time later."

"Madre de Dios," Nico said.

Damon looked thoughtful. "Although, I haven't killed Isobel yet."

"Who?"

"Did Bonnie tell you we've had a vampire problem in Mystic Falls?"

Nico sighed. Of course they had. "Other than you?"

"Yeah, a couple of Katherine's pals from back in the day had unfinished business with the Founders."

"That can't be good." Vampires didn't hang around unless they had plans, and those usually meant a lot of people would die.

"They're dead."

"What happened?"

Damon waved a hand carelessly. "It's this whole big long story with a machine that hurts vampires, and a bunch of them got burned by Bonnie." He glanced sideways at Nico. "But we think there's one or two around still. There was another attack last week."

"Are you going to stop them?"

"Why should I?"

"Basic decency wouldn't be a good enough reason," Nico said dryly, and Damon shrugged. "Do you think these people deserve it?"

"They aren't the ones that tried to kill you."

"No, but their ancestors did kill us, they're the reason Stefan and I are here, so it's only fair they should get to deal with the consequences," Damon said, and when Nico kept staring, he shrugged. "I know, it's not very charitable of me, and I'm told I should work on that, but if they survived the mess that was Founder's Day? I figure they've really got a will to live and finish the job, you've got to respect that."

"That's generous of you," Nico said, and Damon smiled.

"Are you done scolding me?"

"It doesn't do any good."

"You don't usually try and knock me out," Damon said thoughtfully.

"Usually you don't kill people I'm close to," Nico said.

"She tried to kill me, Nico."

"Did you bite her?" Nico asked carefully.

"No."

Nico nodded. He was still furious, but one small mercy was that Damon hadn't enjoyed killing Bree.

"I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't thought she'd do it again." Damon stepped closer to Nico.

"Witches are persistent like that."

"Warlocks too," Nico said, and Damon grinned.

"On you it works for me."

"Speaking of witches, what have you been doing to make Bonnie so angry?"

"Nothing, we're getting along, really."

"Since when have you done that with anybody?"

"I've been working on doing better with people," Damon said. "I haven't killed anybody in weeks."

"What are you drinking?" Nico asked.

"I've been working on a donation basis. It's not as exciting, but the townspeople aren't up in arms quite as much, although this other vampire might change that."

"You're certain it's not an animal?"

"The only animals around here that have ever attacked people aren't going to come all the way into town."

"So it's another vampire."

"Yeah, something killed Jonathan Gilbert. In Elena's kitchen."

"She isn't hurt?"

"No, she came home and found him there, and her little brother tried to overdose on painkillers. Just goes to show you that a bad day can get even worse."

"Could it have been a human?" Nico asked.

"In Mystic Falls? They don't do petty crime, it's supernatural or nothing," Damon said, and Nico gave him an exasperated look.

"For the sake of argument, is it possible?"

"Yeah, but the town is still on edge, and so Sheriff Forbes has her deputies combing the area, and I've been out at all hours helping them."

"You?"

"I'm their resident vampire expert."

"They don't know about you and Stefan."

"No, but I'm in their good graces, so they call on me a lot."

"That is very disturbing," Nico said, and took a seat on the couch. He wasn't going to punch Damon again, there were other, less painful ways of handling him, and Nico wasn't usually someone who lost his temper, this was just too new.

Damon sat down on the arm of the couch, he'd gotten the message. "You get consults from people."

"Yes, but they know I'm a warlock," Nico said. "These people are completely fooled by you."

"Too bad for them."

"Yes, it is."

"What are you really doing here, Nico?"

"Bonnie said she needed my help."

"With me?"

"Not just you," Nico said. "You said there was an attack, and that there have been other vampires in Mystic Falls, and you can't seem to find them."

"We can't pick them out of a crowd, you know that," Damon said, and looked past Nico's shoulder.

"But you have been looking, yes?" Nico asked, and Damon shrugged.

"They just killed somebody I would have killed eventually. I meant to on Founder's Day, but I got sidetracked."

"What happened?"

Damon sighed, like he thought Nico should have gotten the story from somebody else, but Nico waited, and Damon shared the details. He embellished, that was completely normal, but he didn't get distracted, which told Nico that this mattered to him.

"You tried to save this town," Nico said.

"It must have been the hangover," Damon said.

"Does that happen very often?" Nico asked.

"I'm living in a town where they want to kill me, sharing a house with my brother and his girlfriend, and her best friend is a witch who is watching my every move. Did Bonnie tell you that she's going to set me on fire if I step out of line?"

"She mentioned something," Nico said.

"Yeah, she's found her inner witchiness, rah rah," Damon said.

"Maybe saying that isn't helping."

Damon shrugged and glanced at Nico. "You came because she called you."

"I did."

"You're going to babysit me?"

"Never," Nico said. "That won't lead anywhere good."

"No, and you'd miss out on a lot," Damon said, but Nico snorted.

"Yes, but I will get to see Bonnie knock you around if you don't leave her alone."  
Damon looked bored, which worried Nico. "I was just making sure that she didn't have to work so hard at keeping track of me."

"Since when have you wanted to make anything easy for anybody else?" Nico asked.

"It's a phase, I'm experimenting," Damon said and got up. "Anyway, nice to see you."

Nico guessed why Damon left the room when the door opened and Bonnie came inside. She was carrying several bags, and dropped them when she saw Nico.

"Thank goodness, I thought you'd never get here."

"Why are you having so much trouble with Damon?" Nico asked after they stepped out of the hug.

"I don't know, it's like he's all over the place these days, even more than usual." Bonnie winced. "I also told Stefan that if Damon messed up again, I'd put him down."  
"How did Stefan take it?"

"Better than I thought, but he still hasn't made it clear to Damon that there are limits. I shouldn't have to be the one policing vampires."

"It's nothing new," Nico said.

"Yeah, Emily did the same thing, but I don't want to end up like she did."

"I know what you mean," Nico said, and he didn't know if Bonnie knew what had happened to Emily or other witches that had gotten involved with vampires, but she had picked up on it quickly enough that he was pretty sure that she was figuring out what worked and what didn't when it came to vampires.

"But that leaves me with Damon being weird all the time, and I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Would you like me to start at the beginning?" Nico asked.

"I've got enough of an idea, I don't need a whole history of the Salvatores," Bonnie said.

"Then what can I do?"

"I need a buffer while I figure out what's going on."

"He's not killing people again is he?" Nico didn't automatically assume Damon was lying, but he left things out without thinking about it.

"I don't think so," Bonnie said, but she looked uneasy.

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"Elena's uncle was murdered."

"I heard. Damon said he didn't do it."

"Now he's a reliable guy?" Bonnie asked.

"Do you think he would have killed the man?"

"Jonathan Gilbert had just tried to kill a bunch of vampires, including Damon, and Damon told everyone that he would kill Jonathan if he got the chance."

"That's a good reason to suspect him," Nico said, but Bonnie could tell he wasn't convinced.

"Why don't you agree with me?"

"I have known Damon a long time, and I'm used to what he does."

"How can you deal with him when he's being like this?"

"I have my ways of coping," Nico said and smiled.

"I'm not doing that," Bonnie said.

"You shared a bed with him when you were at my house."

"Yeah, but that wasn't us actually doing anything."

"We're not going to, especially not with him being more of a sociopath than usual," Bonnie said.

"If you're going to try and control him I can tell you it's a lost cause," Nico said.

"This can't go on."

"I understand," Nico began, and would have continued, but Damon wandered into the room and smiled at them both.

"Having a little meeting about the problem child?"

"We're just talking," Bonnie said.

"About me," Damon said.

"So what if we are?" Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. "You need to calm down before somebody gets hurt."

"Like who?"

"You, for one," Bonnie said, and Damon shook his head.

"You talk big, witch, but you haven't done more than set a building on fire." Damon smiled. "Fire is good, but you'll need more tricks if you want to handle a vampire who's not distracted or dosed with vervain." Damon leaned forward slightly. "When you've got a better handle on a strategy, then I'll worry."

Bonnie had been staring at Damon like she wanted to throw him out a window, and Nico could feel the hum of power in the air that announced she would have no trouble doing it. Damon stared at both of them and then sauntered out of the room.

"He's trying to make you attack him first," Nico said.

"Don't worry," Bonnie said. "I won't, not yet."

"Why not?"

"He hasn't given me a reason to. Not that I can use."

"Not even after what's happened?" Nico asked. Damon was certainly swinging between moods, and it was extreme, even for him.

"We sort of did each other favors, so we're in a weird place now," Bonnie said. She glanced at Nico. "He said he owes me." She frowned. "He was almost sweet, which is why this-" she shrugged, "is happening now. I thought we might even have a chance of getting along because he knew there were limits."

"Oh," Nico said. That explained a lot of things.

"What?"

"That might be nothing, or he could give you one chance at him."

"After that?"

"He'll kill you without blinking."

"I can set him on fire," Bonnie said. "I did that to the vampires that were trapped in the old apothecary."

Nico could see the attraction but more than that, he could tell there would be things that interfered with Bonnie's plan. "It's impressive, but it's not enough, not if he's prepared and expecting it."

"So I'll take care of him when he's not looking."

"You mean that you'll hurt him."

"Nico, I don't know how else to keep him from killing people."

"Talking to him doesn't do any good," Nico said. He'd tried it himself earlier and in the past, but never expected it to work the first time. With Damon, repetition was key. "He needs to see that you aren't going to turn on him when he does something he doesn't like, and this is a test."

"I'm not the one who's made a mistake."

"I know that, Bonnie, but Damon is used to being blamed for things, and he doesn't care, so long as he can depend on you not to try and hurt him."

"I don't know if I can do that," Bonnie said, and shivered as she glanced out the window. "When did it get so dark?"

"It wasn't raining when I drove here," Nico said,coming over to stare at the threatening clouds.

"Did you look at a forecast?"

"No," Nico said, and opened the door to take a big breath of air. "It's getting colder."

"Is that thermometer right?" Bonnie asked and pointed to the gauge that had plummeted like a rock in a pond in the small amount of time since Nico had arrived.

"It is."

Bonnie frowned. "I promised Elena I'd keep an eye on things here, but I really should be getting home."

"Is your father there?" Nico asked.

"No, he's away on business," Bonnie said.

"Do you want to be alone?" Nico would respect her decision, but if he was reading the signs right, and knew that he was, there wasn't much time before Bonnie would be alone and Nico didn't think she would come out of this night in a better mood when it came to Damon.

"I don't think I want to spend the night in this house, not with Damon trying to make me mad."

"He doesn't have to try very hard," Nico said, and smiled when Bonnie shook her head. "It wouldn't be a good idea to try and go home now."

"Why not?"

"The roads will be very bad."

"It's barely raining."

"Give it a few minutes," Nico said. "You said that you were doing Elena a favor, why leave now? I'm here to step in if Damon bothers you too much."

"I appreciate it," Bonnie said and waved a hand. "Close the door, you should get started on dinner, since you're here."

"I'm cooking?"

"Since I'm staying, I expect a good meal or two," Bonnie said. "I'll show you where everything is."

"Gracias," Nico said, and followed Bonnie into the kitchen.

Bonnie opened cupboards while Nico went through the refrigerator, and was glad that Stefan and maybe Damon were stocking the house as if they didn't only live off blood, and that food was something more than a social gesture. "I can have something ready in a half hour," Nico said. "If you don't mind, ask Stefan where they keep their flashlights and blankets."

"You're so sure that there's going to be a storm," Bonnie said.

"Why aren't you?" Nico chopped onion and celery and dropped them into a stock pot with heavy broth. "You've come very far with your studies, I can tell. What's stopping you from noticing the weather?"

"Some things are easy to control," Bonnie said. "Fire, water, I know those, especially fire."

"Yes, you would," Nico said.

"I've tried to make the clouds clear a few times or to gives us a few more sunny days. All I got was a headache, and once a bloody nose."

"It's not as simple as thinking about it." Nico gestured at the carrots sitting by the sink. "Could you rinse those off for me?"

Bonnie turned on the water and turned the carrots over under its flow and then passed them to Nico. "I know that, but I'm more in control than I ever thought I could be, and I know I'm doing things that Grams would say are dangerous, but they don't feel like it." She braced her arms on the counter next to Nico. "But I can't really talk to anyone else about this, not and have them understand what I'm going through."

"You can call me anytime," Nico said.

"I don't want to bug you about this stuff."

"You're a witch, one of the most powerful I've ever met, and you're doing incredible things on your own. Why wouldn't I want to help if I can?"

"You've got to be busy."

"What is it that would keep me from helping a friend?"

"Your job," Bonnie said, plainly thinking that Nico should have come to that conclusion much more quickly.

"I don't work, not like that," Nico said. "I get contracts from companies, securing assets, sometimes finding lost property, and other than that, I help anybody who comes looking to learn about magic and wants to use it the right way. The ones who have bad ideas don't stay long."

"You sound like a kind of mercenary," Bonnie said.

"No, I'm just not interested in working in an office." Nico stirred the soup and turned the heat down so it wouldn't burn. "It took me years to learn that, and now I do what I want. Most of the time."

Bonnie nodded knowingly. "Magic helps a lot in your work."

"It does, but it won't solve every problem."

"I can't do a spell so that I can get perfect grades, and things will go my way?" Bonnie asked. She wasn't being completely serious, but Nico took it as if she was.

"No, not unless you want that to come back around in a bad way."

"I know, you really do sound like Grams did, with all of her lectures about how magic wasn't fun, and that I should be more careful." Bonnie's lips tightened. "She was right about some of it. Getting involved with vampires is a really stupid idea."

"It can be a good thing too," Nico said. "For some of us."

"Yeah, lately it's been too much of one and not enough of the other," Bonnie said and took a deep breath. "That's starting to smell good."

Nico checked the soup with a small spoon and found it hot but tasty. Then he took a look outside at the clouds that had gathered in the sky and frowned. "It will be done in time, but we should find the others so we're ready."

"I'm sure Damon is fine, wherever he is."

"He'll turn up," Nico said. "Stefan and Elena are upstairs?"

"Yes." Bonnie raised her voice slightly. "You guys, you'd better get down here if you want to eat, and yeah, the weather's getting pretty bad." Bonnie eyed a bag of rolls sitting on the counter.

"They'll be down soon. I'll warm these up in the microwave."

Nico shuddered. "I would make some fresh, but there isn't time."

"We'll manage," Bonnie said and pointed out the window. "I just saw a snowflake."

"There will be more soon," Nico said.

"That's great," Elena said as she came into the kitchen, Stefan close on her heels, his hands resting on her waist, and the two of them radiating contentment.

"You want it to snow?" Stefan asked and craned his neck to gauge Elena's reaction.

"It's pretty, and it never sticks that long. We usually get a couple inches, and that's it."

"This is going to be different," Nico said, and began searching for bowls and spoons.

"Here," Bonnie said, and unearthed them without fumbling.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, sniffing the air appreciatively.

"We're going to have a storm," Bonnie said. "At least that's what Nico says."

"He's never wrong about these things," Damon said from the doorway, and Bonnie flinched.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"The pipes are wrapped, everything is secure, and we've got enough food," Damon said to Nico.

"Since Stefan and Elena were busy in his room," he glanced significantly at them, "I have no idea if there are extra blankets, but I've got a fire going."

Elena smiled at him. "Thanks, Damon."

Damon shrugged and wandered out again, and Bonnie groaned. "See, he's civil to the rest of you, but me, he can't stop teasing."

"You've tried to kill each other, it creates tension," Stefan said.

"I hadn't noticed," Bonnie said, and handed Nico a ladle. "Let's eat."

Nico dished everyone up a serving, and took the plate of rolls out of the microwave.

"I'll butter these, you should get comfortable in the parlor," Stefan said.

"I'm going to grab a load of blankets," Elena said. "Save a spot for me on the couch," she said to Bonnie, who smiled at her.

"Hurry up, or I'm going to eat your soup."

"There's plenty to go around," Nico said, and headed into the other room. He found Damon shifting a log onto the fire, and took a seat just to Damon's right. "I brought you something to eat."

Damon used the poker to push the log into place and then moved back. He looked over Nico's plate, and frowned. "Is there anything to dip in it?"

"There are rolls," Stefan said, and leaned over the back of the couch to offer the plate to Damon. "You can have one, and then pass them around, we have guests."

"I thought they lived here," Damon said. "It seems like they're here enough of the time."

"Don't be cranky," Elena said, and dropped the stack of blankets onto Damon's lap. "Here, pass these out."

Damon raised an eyebrow but shoved the pile at Stefan and then Bonnie, and when Elena sat beside Stefan, they curled up under the same blanket.

Bonnie had Nico in between her and Damon, which made things bearable, and they settled under a blanket together, leaving Damon with his own. That wasn't fair, and Bonnie was about to say something, meanly wanting Damon to react somehow, when Nico lifted a corner of the blanket and shoved one leg under.

"Hey," Damon said.

"You should share," Nico said.

"Apparently I am." Bonnie leaned on the back of the couch and Nico glanced up at her.

"What are you looking at?"

"The snow, it's really coming down now."

"It's pretty," Elena said and then nudged Nico. "Do you know how long it's going to last?"

"This will set records," Nico said.

"We're stuck here," Bonnie said, and groaned unhappily.

"There's enough food in the pantry," Stefan said. "If we need to, Damon and I can bring in more firewood."

"It should be a kick," Damon said, and Bonnie stared at him.

"What is going on with you?" Bonnie asked, and Damon blinked at her exaggeratedly.

"At the moment, nothing, did you have something in mind?"

Bonnie ignored his comment, and scooted closer to Nico, who lifted an arm so she could lean on him and glare at Damon. "I mean, what's happened to make you even more psycho than usual?"

"You're saying I'm crazy and you're used to it?"

"I've learned to accept a lot of things this year," Bonnie said. "But even for you, this is weird. It's like you can't make up your mind whether you want to be nice or not."

Stefan's head jerked up, as if something had only just occurred to him, and Elena, as well as everyone else caught his reaction.

"Don't," Damon said, and Stefan bit his lip but subsided.

"What?" Elena asked, and leaned over so she could look Damon in the face. "Is there something wrong?"

"Besides him being unbalanced?" Bonnie asked.

"That's not helping," Nico said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Then what is it?"

Damon rolled out from under his blanket and got up to poke at the fire. "None of your business, witch."

Bonnie gritted her teeth and spoke slowly. "Damon, if you haven't noticed, we've got a storm outside, and we're going to be here for hours, at least, we should try to get along."

"You first," Damon said, and sat down on the carpet, and kicked off his boots.

"Your feet will get cold," Elena said.

"I'll survive."

"Seriously," Elena said. "What happened?" She coughed. "Is it Katherine? Have you heard from Isobel?"

"The only thing I've heard from Isobel is that she's staying out of Mystic Falls, which is the reason she's still walking and talking."

"Damon," Elena said, but he didn't seem apologetic.

"She would have hurt you and anybody else she could get her hands on to get what she wanted," Damon said.

"You would know," Bonnie said, and Elena shook her head.

"Stop it, you two, we can't get mad at each other, where will you go to calm down?"

"I was thinking of getting some rest," Bonnie said.

"It's too cold upstairs," Stefan said.

"We have to spend the night here?" Bonnie asked, and Damon grinned. "Don't do that."

"You can curl up with me," Elena said, and Bonnie eyed Elena and the way she was curled up beside Stefan.

"Thanks, but Nico is pretty comfortable, I'll keep him around."

Nico didn't check on Damon, but he wanted to put a hand out so he knew this wasn't about taking sides. But he stayed still and Bonnie settled down along his right side and all of them watched the fire burn and every so often Stefan moved so he could check to see how much snow had fallen.

"Damon, we'd better get some more wood," Stefan said, and Damon got to his feet and shoved his boots back on. He didn't spare a glance for anybody as he followed Stefan out, and there was a gust of wind that made everybody else pull the blankets more tightly around themselves.

"Do you have any idea what is making Damon act this way?" Elena asked Nico.

"I'm not sure," Nico said, but he had an idea of what it could be, and Bonnie knew him well enough to catch him thinking about it.

"Nico, spill, they'll be back any second."

"Damon has been moody, is that what you think?"

"It's like he's lost whatever sense he had," Bonnie said. "As if he doesn't care what he does to people."

"He does care," Elena said, interrupting Bonnie. "More than he used to, and that's a huge change, you know that."

"I'll go along with that," Bonnie said. "I don't understand it, but sometimes it almost seems like he's trying to confuse people by being nice for just a little while. He wants see what he can get out of it."

"No, it's not that," Nico said, and gestured at Bonnie. "But you're close to the answer."

"Are you just saying that or do you know for sure?"

"I can't say without talking to him."

"Which isn't going to go anywhere," Bonnie said.

"If he doesn't want to share, he's not going to tell you," Elena said.

"We're going to have him around whether we like it or not," Bonnie said. "I might be alone in this, but I want to have something settled, otherwise this won't work at all."

"I know you don't like him," Elena said.

The left corner of Bonnie's mouth lifted slightly. "It's funny, because sometimes he's almost bearable."

Elena sat up to get a better look at Bonnie. "I haven't ever seen you two get along for longer than a couple minutes."

"I have," Nico said. "They know how to share a bed too."

Elena smiled. "I'm sorry I missed that conversation."

"You guys caught the end of it," Bonnie said, and ducked her head.

"It wasn't so bad, Damon behaved himself."

"Yeah, and I thought he was going to be almost human."

"Bonnie, you said it yourself, we need to get this figured out, otherwise I'm going to lose it with you two fighting all the time."

"Okay, but how do we get it out of him?" Bonnie asked.

"Stefan knows," Elena said.

"He's not going to say anything," Damon said from behind them, and Nico grimaced.

"Make noise, it's polite."

"I'm a vampire, not a butler."

"Can we change that?" Bonnie asked, and Damon stepped forward and threw a handful of snow at her.

Bonnie shrieked and jumped over the back of the couch.

"Oh no," Elena said, and scrambled over after her, Nico close behind. "Stop that, Damon, go get changed, Bonnie, that's an antique, put it down."

Nico got between Bonnie and Damon, and Stefan hustled his brother out of the room. "We'll be a little while," Stefan said, and Nico and Elena nodded almost in unison.

"Good idea."

"I'm not an expert on vampires," Nico said when Damon and Stefan were upstairs. He knew that they would be able to hear him, but with vampires inside and a storm outside, there was nothing to do about it. "It's that I've known Damon for years, and I didn't let go of everything from that part of my life."

"Why not?" Elena asked.

"I've told Bonnie, I was in trouble, and did things that I shouldn't have. If you don't have respect for magic, what it can do, it will come back and hurt you or people around you. I made mistakes, and for a year or two I didn't even care." Nico met their eyes squarely. "It was easier, and I met a lot of people who were doing the same thing."

"Damon came along," Bonnie said.

"I was looking for somebody like him," Nico said, and smiled involuntarily. He could tell it made Elena and Bonnie uncomfortable, so he explained. "When you first come into yourself, as a witch, or when you know that you've got any power at all, you try to find a way to prove that to everyone and yourself."

Bonnie stared at him. "You mean that when Damon found you, that was what you wanted?"

"We were headed in the same direction."

"No offense, but what's wrong with you?" Bonnie asked. "I thought you were over all of it, but you sound like you miss all of that."

"You don't know much about me," Nico said. "I keep my secrets for good reason." Nico exhaled. "But I know where my lines are now, and I only have one or two exceptions."

"One of them is Damon," Bonnie said.

"He has a way of doing that," Elena said. "I never expected that either."

"But I'm not there yet," Bonnie said. "A truce is one thing, but lately, he's just been so weird."

Nico had to agree. "I know."

"If he was anybody else, I'd think he had a problem we needed to get him help for," Elena said. "But, that's not exactly the thing you do when your friend is a vampire."

"He isn't the problem," Nico said.

"Not right now," Bonnie said, and raised a hand. "Okay, I get it, you and Damon understand each other because you've both done bad things, but how does that help us now?"

"You're not that different," Nico said.

Bonnie bit her lower lip and shook her head. "If I didn't like you, this would be where I told you to leave."

"It's snowing."

"I like you, Nico, you've got an idea, what is it?"

Nico shrugged. "We've got a fire, it's warm, and nobody needs to be fighting with each other."

"Does that include you and Damon?" Bonnie asked.

"We deal with our problems and put them away," Nico said.

"That's healthy."

Nico reflected "In a way."

"Okay, I'm convinced, we're going to try and be nice to each other," Bonnie said and smiled with visible difficulty. "If there's chocolate, I'll do my best."

"I saw some in the cupboard," Nico said. "I'll go and get it." He saw Elena and Bonnie lean closer together, and went to find all the chocolate he could find. It might not be everyone's first choice for peace offerings, but Nico got a saucepan and broke several large chocolate bars into it, and the result was tasty. He poured it into mugs, found a tray that fit enough of them on it, and carried all of it into the parlor.

"Here."

Bonnie took a mug with a grin. "Perfect."

"Where are the boys?" Elena asked when she grabbed her own cup, and Nico shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I haven't heard anything break, so they must just be talking," Bonnie said, and curled up more intently. "Come on, sit down, they'll show up."

"They'd better hurry," Elena said, and eyed the remaining cups of hot chocolate. "I know this stuff is no good for us, but right now I don't care."

"I know what you mean," Bonnie said, and took another sip.

"I smell something good," Stefan said from the top of the stairs, and a moment later he was standing next to the couch and Elena handed him a cup. "Where did this come from?"

"You had chocolate, I melted it," Nico said, and Stefan smiled.

"Is this a peace offering?" Damon asked.

"No," Elena said more firmly than Nico had heard her all afternoon, and she pulled herself up far enough to look over the edge of the couch and point at Damon. "It's a truce. Take it, and get over here."

Damon was wearing dry clothes and he looked a little less wild eyed, but still smirked at everyone when he climbed onto the couch, and in a daring move, put Bonnie on one side and Nico on the other.  
"Have some," Nico said, and fortunately, Damon thought chocolate was more interesting than teasing Bonnie for the moment.  
Stefan joined them, and Elena leaned back to kiss him. They didn't say a word as everyone worked out how best to share the blankets, and eventually found a way to curl up comfortably all together.  
If Nico hadn't been pressed up along Damon's side, he wouldn't have heard him let out a shaky breath. He was still sitting between Nico and Bonnie, and probably didn't want to move in case that shook Bonnie out of the doze she'd fallen into.  
Nico brushed a hand over Damon's neck. "Mmm?" He didn't need to ask if Damon needed anything, it was all there.  
Damon shook his head a tiny bit. "I want a drink."  
Nico tugged on Damon's hair. "That would mean moving."  
"Yeah."  
"No reason to get up," Nico said, and pushed his own mug toward Damon. "Have more chocolate."  
"Is that your answer? We cuddle in front of a roaring fire and talk to each other?"  
"No, we can be silent," Nico said, and cleared his throat. "Well, not you, that's one thing you've never been very good at."  
"Have I told you that you missed your calling as a comedian?" Damon asked.  
"I could do magic and comedy," Nico said.  
Damon nodded. "You'd make a killing."  
"I'm going to kill something if you two don't shut up," Bonnie mumbled, and Nico coughed to cover his laughter.  
"Lo siento."  
Bonnie elbowed Damon, who elbowed her back, and Nico had to lean over Damon's lap to try and pull them apart. "That was me too, not just him."  
"I'll get you back later," Bonnie said, but didn't object when Damon's arm rested against her side again.  
"I'm sure," Damon said, and Nico raised his head enough to frown at him, but Damon's eyes were half closed and he had tucked his feet under the blanket. When Damon leaned sideways into Nico, that was the signal for him to relax too, and Nico closed his eyes, glad to have a little quiet while it lasted. Later they would have to deal with everything else, and that would come soon enough. Until then, he was warm and there was no reason to move.


End file.
